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innovation - ‘Sacyr-branded’ apps to pave the way for smart cities

‘Sacyr-branded’ apps to pave the way for smart cities

11/11/2016

A mobile app to manage service-related incidents was awarded the prize for the best in­house innovation initiative in 2015 at the Sacyr innovation awards ceremony held in June this year.

In the future people will live in smart cities, and services to improve the lives of citizens will be connected online to optimise the way they are managed. In this mission, connectivity and technology play a leading role thanks to the development of apps which facilitate the work and offer constant, updated information. This is the key to the mobile app for managing service-related incidents which was awarded the in-house prize for innovation in 2015 at the Sacyr awards ceremony acknowledging the most innovative start-ups.

Luis Miguel Mancha, Carlos Manuel Rubio and Alejandro Guerrero are the people responsible for the app. They succeeded in designing and developing a mobility system for workers who provide services for citizens, thereby bringing about a significant improvement in quality thanks to early detection and correction of any incidents. Active collaboration and joint efforts by systems management at Sacyr and Valoriza Servicios Medioambientales have made it possible to combine in­house talent and capacities to create an iOS application that generates high value for the business through mobile technology.

As with all innovation, the idea arose from analysing Sacyr’s businesses to find an opportunity to meet a need. “Thanks to the app, Valoriza Servicios Medioambientales has a mobile tool that allows it to improve the quality of its service and ensure performance of the service”, stated Luis Miguel Mancha. It is a step forward in modernising systems and raising awareness that a future involving smart cities is a reality.

Connectivity in order to optimise services

The mobile solution has an online back office that permits it to identify incidents in the service such as full rubbish bins or waste on public highways, and, in turn, to confirm they are resolved within the set timeframes. The data is sent through photographs, geographical identification and a description of the incident, to enable the incident to be subsequently registered in the system and to be followed up. Any incidents that remain unresolved are sent to the heads of service for informational and decision-making purposes.

“This is a flexible method which makes it possible to take note of the incident in situ and, through a simple 4G connection, to send incident data to the back office in real time”, said Luis Miguel Mancha, adding that the app combines mobile technology with the online system to increase the tool’s potential. “In addition, the application could in the future incorporate improvements such as an automatic location system through GPS or could be developed in Android to economise on devices.”

An enthusiastic team, which appreciates the company’s dedication to innovation, is continuing to work on the app. “This recognition, together with senior management’s firm commitment to innovation, leads to strong motivation among the contributors to keep on innovating”, concluded the recipient of the award.